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Top 50 Favorite Horror Novels on Goodreads
-Clive Barker
Hear the scratching on the wall? Feel a chill run down your spine? The frightening thrills of our favorite horror novels have a way of reaching out from beyond the page—casting shadows, whispering in our ear, haunting us long after the story is done.
For Horror Week, Goodreads set out to reveal readers' favorite scary books. The titles were chosen based on overall shelvings (i.e., the number of times each book has been marked as "read" or "want to read"), plus reader reviews and ratings.
From literal monsters to purely psychological terrors, these are tales of madness and pandemonium, retribution and absolution. Long heralded as the "Master of Horror," Stephen King reigns supreme with five books on our list, but his son Joe Hill is not far behind, nabbing four spots. And along with classics from Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Kirkman's end-of-the-world comic, The Walking Dead, made the cut as well as an award-winning children's ghost story, The Graveyard Book, from Neil Gaiman.
And now, for those who dare, we present the top 50 horror books on Goodreads in alphabetical order. Proceed at your own risk—and then tell us how many you've read in the comments.
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What's your favorite horror novel? Share it with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of Horror Week including:
The Campy, Bizarre World of Paperback Horror
16 Terror-Inducing Halloween Audiobooks
Gather Around for Terrifying Ghost Stories
Comments Showing 1-50 of 220 (220 new)
message 1:
by
Liander (The Towering Pile)
(new)
Oct 16, 2017 08:52AM
I've read 9 of these and have a few more on my to read shelf! One horror novel I read recently and loved was The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike, translated from the Japanese. Not gonna lie, I had trouble walking around my apartment after dark on the nights I read this book!
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Sad that Lovecraft ist missing :( (Lovecraft Country doesn't count).
9. The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror are the scariest IMO.
Absolutely love Dean Koonz and Watchers is one of my favourite books ever!!
I've read four. Currently reading Frankenstein and Dracula for the first time right now.
Hah! Warm Bodies ain't horror. It's Twilight with zombies!
I'm not a huge horror fan, but I loved "It," maybe because one of the characters was a librarian. :-)
Andy wrote: "Sad that Lovecraft ist missing :( (Lovecraft Country doesn't count)."Yeah. I'm amazed by that too. How can Lovecraft not be here?
Wow, I have actually read 14 and have several more to read. Cool!
Only read 18 of these. A few of them were just okay, but there are some solid ones here. However, this list is missing some of the best horror books out there. Where's Ghost Story?!
Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "I've read 9 of these and have a few more on my to read shelf! One horror novel I read recently and loved was The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike, translated from the Japanese. N..."That's a good one.
I've read 20 of these. I've always been a fan of Stephen King's books and EAP is spooky, but of these, Rosemary's Baby is chilling. One that's not on the list is Truman Capote's Hand-carved Coffins.
Yikes! Have only read 25 of the above. Many are favorites, but IT is an oldie and BIRDBOX a newbie! AND...Pet Semetary is missing...... 🕷😸🕷
Night Film by Marisha Pessl was pretty creepy too.
Dark Matter by Michelle Paver was psychologically creepy, which is exactly the kind of book I love! I recommend it to everyone.
I've only read 12 of them! Shame on me. Out of those Bird Box was definitely the most toe curlingly creepy.Although many more of these are on my "want to read" shelf so they will get read eventually!
Hmm...I've only read four but I have 7 on my TBR list. Great list BTW!
Mary wrote: "Dark Matter by Michelle Paver was psychologically creepy, which is exactly the kind of book I love! I recommend it to everyone."So agree Mary!
Thirty-two read, with seven on my to-read list!
Rachel wrote: "Only read 18 of these. A few of them were just okay, but there are some solid ones here. However, this list is missing some of the best horror books out there. Where's Ghost Story?!"I agree. One of the best ghost stories of all time.
Alan wrote: "Andy wrote: "Sad that Lovecraft ist missing :( (Lovecraft Country doesn't count)."Yeah. I'm amazed by that too. How can Lovecraft not be here?"
Because Lovecraft never wrote a horror novel.
Or listen to Neil Gaiman read it, as I did. Excellent!
Just finished IT last week and it's definitely a favorite! I'd add I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid. I stayed up way too late with this one, dying to figure out what was going on.
I love all books. I have Flower in the attic and vampire in the interview and other books.
My favourite novel is 'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson. I tell people that it's a ghost story in which the ghost never appears.Other contenders for the highest prize would include 'Pet Sematery', probably the scariest novel that I've read, and 'Meat' by Joseph D'Lacey.
Can anyone think of other high fliers?
Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "I've read 9 of these and have a few more on my to read shelf! One horror novel I read recently and loved was The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike, translated from the Japanese. N..."I had trouble being alone after I read that one too!! So awesome!
Andy wrote: "Sad that Lovecraft ist missing :( (Lovecraft Country doesn't count)."It is a shame, and a weird absence considering how many Cthulhu Mythos anthologies are coming out these days. Heck, at least 2 of the books on this list are based off his stories.
I've read four. I've started Dracula and the last American vampire but didn't finish either one. Although I liked Abraham Lincoln vampire killer.
The Stand is a good book (I rated it with 4*) but not a horror one..!!
Carol wrote: "Yikes! Have only read 25 of the above. Many are favorites, but IT is an oldie and BIRDBOX a newbie! AND...Pet Semetary is missing...... 🕷😸🕷"I absolutely LOVED Birdbox! I was so stressed out while reading it. I think it's being made into a film?
38 for me! With several more already on my Kindle to check out. I do have some problems with this list, though.
No
(one of the most literary and scary novels), but you include
?Now that doesn't seem right. Just saying.
It's nice to see horror getting some love, even if it's only because of Halloween.
Toby wrote: "Alan wrote: "Andy wrote: "Sad that Lovecraft ist missing :( (Lovecraft Country doesn't count)."Yeah. I'm amazed by that too. How can Lovecraft not be here?"
Because Lovecraft never wrote a horro..."
Poes collected stories and poems are also not a novel and still on this list
Have read 23 of these, set to read 2 of these this month, and have several others on wishlist
It was so nice to see the hover for the full plot synopsis again, without clicking away to another page! Wish you could bring that back. I don't bother looking into book plots any longer, because clicking away and returning take sup to omuch time.
Char wrote: "38 for me! With several more already on my Kindle to check out. I do have some problems with this list, though.
No
(one of the most literary and scary novels), but ..."18 for me. And I have some quibbles with the list too. Some here I wouldn't classify as "horror".
As far as some obvious books not being listed - I think that might be due to general GR readers, in general older books seem to get less reads and attention that more recent publications.
Ok, I love the Goodreads logo all covered in bats! :D
I agree with folks who don't think this is exclusively a horror story book list. For example, I don't think "Misery" is a horror story at heart, although horrible things happen. Not at all in the same class as "Salem's Lot," which I think is one of Stephan King's most horrible! I also think "Haunting of Hill House" is a better horror story than "We have Always Lived in the Castle."
10 books out of 50, so not too bad I might say! :) Funny to see "Birdbox" on the list: I see many of you liked it, but to me the book was a letdown.And if we're talking about 'new' horror books, I think Hex would be a good addition to the list!
Kristina wrote: "Carol wrote: "Yikes! Have only read 25 of the above. Many are favorites, but IT is an oldie and BIRDBOX a newbie! AND...Pet Semetary is missing...... 🕷😸🕷"I absolutely LOVED Birdbox! I was so stre..."
I heard that too Kristina.....hope it's true! 😸
Carol wrote: "Kristina wrote: "Carol wrote: "Yikes! Have only read 25 of the above. Many are favorites, but IT is an oldie and BIRDBOX a newbie! AND...Pet Semetary is missing...... 🕷😸🕷"I absolutely LOVED Birdb..."
It is :) netflix is making it, and sandra bullock is playing the main character.
Monical wrote: "I agree with folks who don't think this is exclusively a horror story book list. For example, I don't think "Misery" is a horror story at heart, although horrible things happen. Not at all in the s..."I agree with you Monical: I also think "Hill House" is much scarier than "The Castle." The latter is more unsettling and mysterious, the first book however really gets under your skin. (which is precisely what the house wants).
And I was thinking of reading "Salem's Lot" during next year's Halloween, so I'm happy to hear that it's good.
The Shining is one of the scariest books I have ever read. The movie was awful but the book was great.
I've read 16 of the books listed and my all time favorite is The Shining with The Witching Hour as a close 2nd.
I've read 15 of them. I prefer dystopian to horror so not many of the others are not on my "to read" list. I did like Charlie Higson's YA zombie series, beginning with The Enemy. I also enjoyed Dean Koontz' 5 book Frankenstein series, though it was so funny in places that it wasn't all that scary. The Frankenstein Series 4-Book Bundle: Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, City of Night, Dead and Alive, Lost Souls. I agree that Lovecraft should be on the list.
